Josef and Josefine Schmitz papers

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum 

Josef Schmitz (1894-1973) was born in Lundenburg, Moravia (Břeclav, Czech Republic) to Koloman and Mathilde Schmitz. He worked in textiles in Vienna before relocating to Brno in 1930. His wife, Josefine Schmitz (1903-2000), was born in Brno to Heinrich (Jindřich) and Henriette (Jindřiška) Schlesinger (1879-1943), and the couple worked at Henriette’s coffeehouse. They had daughter Judith in 1931. Josef, Josefine, and Judith relocated to Tel Aviv in November 1939. Henriette was deported to Theresienstadt in 1942 and then to Auschwitz in 1943, where she was killed. 

Josef and Josefine Schmitz papers 

box 1 

The Josef and Josefine Schmitz papers consist of biographical materials, correspondence, emigration files, photographs, and restitution files documenting their lives in Břeclav, Vienna, Brno, and Tel Aviv; their emigration from Czechoslovakia to Palestine in 1939 with their daughter Judith; and their efforts to recover their property and receive restitution after the war. Biographical materials include birth, marriage, and health certificates; school records; and identification and military papers documenting Josef, Josefine, and Judith Schmitz along with correspondence and forms documenting Josef’s Austrian citizenship and the family’s citizenship status in Czechoslovakia. Correspondence documents family members and friends in Czechoslovakia, Israel, Germany, and Austria; emigration plans; Holocaust experiences; postwar lives; efforts to trace family members and witnesses; and efforts to obtain restitution. Emigration files include packing lists and evaluations of items the Schmitz family intended to take to Palestine as well as records documenting preparations and expenses related to emigration. Photographs depict Josef, Josefine, and Judith Schmitz with family and friends in Europe and on the boat to Palestine. Restitution files include correspondence, forms, statements, notifications, and printed materials document the Schmitz family’s efforts to recover financial assets and real property inherited from the Schmitz and Schlesinger families, and to receive insurance and pension payments. 

The Josef and Josefine Schmitz papers are arranged as five series: I. Biographical materials, 1904-1973 (bulk 1904-1939), II. Correspondence, 1924-1967, III. Emigration files, 1939-1941, IV. Photographs, approximately 1919-1939, V. Restitution files, 1913-1974